So, it turns out that I never did use the summer hiatus to catch up on more television and post about it.
What I did accomplish was finishing graduate school (yay!) and taking up a new hobby. You may have heard of it... roller derby? (You may not have heard of it, or realized people actually do it). These two developments are not entirely unrelated. The former has given me more free time than I've had in over a year; the latter has taken up all that free time and more. Both developments have resulted in me being pretty happy lately, but -- gasp! -- I've been watching less TV.
With the new fall season having recently begun, I've had to watch most of my shows by catching up via DVR on the weekend. Right now, I'm mostly sticking with shows I was already watching. None of the new shows have seemed compelling enough for me to add them to my tv schedule (which was already messed up with the moving around of Survivor and The Big Bang Theory and whatnot). Basically, I'm very stubborn and set in my old ways. Harrumph. But, I do take sincere recommendations under advisement.
I have recently taken up (finally) watching a couple of very awesome, critically acclaimed, criminally short series: Freaks and Geeks and Firefly.
I know, I know. I *should* have seen these shows long ago. I wasn't avoiding them on purpose, exactly, or because I didn't believe they were as good as people said. I didn't catch them when they first were out, and they expired so quickly, and by the time I *could* see them I was kind of overwhelmed. I didn't want to know what I was missing.
IFC began showing Freaks and Geeks a couple of months ago, so I plugged it in to the DVR. And it really is as funny and touching and well-done as everyone said. I've never been one to look back on high school with the pining, golden glow of nostalgia, but man, does that show capture the awkwardness of high school, or what? I suppose a lot of people don't like to use TV as a medium for resurrecting feelings of high school angst without some kind of soapy sheen or glossy veneer, or else we'd have more Freaks and Geeks and My So-Called Life and less Gossip Girl and 90210.
And Firefly. What can I say about it? Also very much as awesome as everyone said. Now, a lot of geeky references to it are clearer to me. I'm sad I'm done watching it and have Serenity ready to go on my Netflix instant queue as soon as I publish this post, because then it's done. And that's not shiny.
ETA: Oh no. It has begun. Even though they take place about 150 years apart, in different versions of the universe, my mind has started mashing up Firefly with the Star Trek universe circa TNG in a little fantasy alternate universe crossover. Be very, very grateful that I have no interest in actually writing fanfic.
I too thought Freaks & Geeks was far too short when I first watched it, on DVD a few years back, but with time I've really come to appreciate how its arc was so tight and satisfying.
ReplyDelete@Miq-Tak I haven't finished the season yet, but at least it does seem tightly enough written to hold its own in its brevity.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes wonder about all of these teen angst shows and how they are often so short but garner a devoted following. Would they be so beloved if they hadn't died young?